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Wine List Confidential: Gouqi

21 October 2024 By Douglas Blyde

Douglas Blyde heads to Chinese restaurant Gouqi, located just off Trafalgar Square. Head sommelier Pedro Santos walks him through the wine list, answering crucial questions, such as: “What to pair with eel?”

“Gouqi has been so carefully designed, that it’s a work of art in itself,” praised Square Meal, while the Good Food Guide found its “blissfully calm” mood to be the perfect canvas for savouring chef Tong Chee Hwee’s signature dish – the “impressively glossy, lacquered Beijing duck.” Combined with “superb” service, wrote Andy Hayler, Gouqi delivers “cooking of a level that most Chinese restaurants in London can only dream of.”

Design

Pronounced “goji” after an island in the East China Sea famed for its fishing villages and abundant with berry shrubs, the restaurant unfurls off Trafalgar Square, beginning with the Berri Bar over which a long, colourful, illuminated dragon coils. The finest vantages in the main dining room, where dishes are served on Jingdezhen porcelain, are the three semiprivate, velvet-adorned booths with marble-topped tables, which, like the Peking duck with Oscietra caviar, must be pre-booked well in advance. Here, Laza Bossa’s sultry rendition of Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay lingers on loop.

Drinks

Pedro Santos, clad in a grape cluster tie, rose from a waiter role at Cau in Cambridge (RIP) where, aged 25, he developed a love for wine while studying business at Anglia Ruskin University, to head sommelier of Westminster’s Gouqi via the original Scott’s, where he spent nearly five years, followed by stints at Annabel’s Club, and The Twenty Two. Come November, he’s off to Piedmont with truffles on his mind, and Mexico in January.

Options by the 125ml glass, which change monthly, range from Ashbourne’s 2023 Walker Bay Sandstone (£10) escalating to Henriot 2012 champagne at £42, via Wiston’s Blanc de Blancs from Sussex (£20) being one of eleven English wines, including 2018 Signature Rosé from Hundred Hills; La Dame de Gaffelière 2014 from Saint-Émilion costs £25.

Bottles begin at £50 for Pellegrino’s 2021 Gibelé from Sicily £50, topping out at £5,500 for Domaine Cécile Tremblay’s 2009 Échezeaux du Dessus Grand Cru. Between, you will find 2019 Borja Pérez Artífice Listán Blanco from Islas Canarias at £65, a price point filled with interest, as also demonstrated by 2022s such as Confluentia Muscadet sur le from Château du Coing, and Goriska Brda’s Gašper Malvasija. Noting Santos is given freedom when it comes to listings, other bins of note include 2021 Solaris from Poland (Winnica Turnau), and 2021 Medieval de Ourém, Lés-a-Lés (£95), one of 30 options drawn from Santos’ homeland, Portugal. At the higher echelon is 1991 Riesling Spätlese, Wiltinger Braune Kupp, Egon Müller (£400), Annamaria Clementi Rosé 2013 by Ca’ Del Bosco (£500), 2003 Château Latour (£2,575), 2005 Harlan Estate (£2,950), and Barolo Riserva, Monfortino, Giacomo Conterno 1996 at £3,200. Having increased the bins from 90 to a mighty 550 since April 2023, Santos delights in keeping previous lists to chart the progress.

A tidy line-up of ten sakes includes Keigetsu Nigori, Junmai Daiginjo (£115), and the showstopping Masuizumi Junmai Daiginjo Special, finished in Burgundy barrels (£400) – a bridge for well-heeled wine lovers to dip their toes into synergious sake.

Meanwhile, beneath the watchful dragon of Berri Bar, whiskey reigns supreme. The Rose Dragon scorches with a mix of whiskey, amaro, peach wine, five spice, and dragon fruit, while the Bixi – a riff on the Penicillin – stirs up peated whisky, lapsang-souchong tea, and bitters.

Backing up Santos is Mhairi Fairbairn, who oversees the English wine selection.

Dishes

Gouqi marks the solo debut of Tong Chee Hwee, the former Executive Head Chef who steered Hakkasan to seven Michelin stars over eighteen years. Known for its refined Cantonese cuisine, Hakkasan’s alumni include Gouqi’s restaurant director, Alan Tang, who was sadly not on hand this lunchtime either.

At Gouqi, the lucky number eight is more than just a superstition – it’s practically a motif, appearing 140 times on the wine list, thrice in the phone number, and in the form of the eight dim sum which opened the meal. Paired with François Carillon’s 2021 Cap au Sud, from the Côte de Beaune winemaker, Santos likened the Languedoc Chardonnay to the wine equivalent of “a love child.” It worked particularly well with black truffle stuffed har gau and an unusual cumin-spiced lamb dumpling, though the best morsel in show was the pork and prawn siu mai with abalone.

“What to pair with eel?” mused Santos as slick, neatened cheung fun with unexpected crisp cores arrived. The answer came care of Gedeelte Deel 6, a 2022 “veil” fermented, oak-matured Sauvignon Blanc which brought lasting, complimentary jalapeño notes. Best taken as a generous gulp, it hit a major note alongside the tidy, textural take on the dish.

“I don’t want to over-hype one of my favourite pairings,” Santos teased as he poured the deeply hued 2022 Alkemi rosé from Markovitis Winery (formerly Chateau Pegasus), cleverly priced £8 cheaper by the glass than standard issue Côtes de Provence to lure guests in. Paired with a chilled goose parfait disguised as a cherry, bringing to mind Heston’s meat fruit, and an aromatic duck parcel, the “rosé” even held its own against the formidable, glossy, black truffle balsamic dip.

For the main course: alas, not chef Tong’s famed whole duck which three other tables dove into, but a perfectly pink Angus tenderloin in black pepper sauce. This arrived with fluffy, golden egg-fried rice with XO sauce, which a fresher splash of oil could have improved. An ortolan-sized pak choi was, thankfully, a more wholesome contrast. The 2013 Riesling Spätlese from Dorsheimer Goldloch, Schlossgut Diel in the Nahe, grown in the sort of volcanic soils which Santos much admires, showed pronounced evolution and, scoring no prizes for originality given its varietal, easily tamed the dish’s rich flavours. It was also interesting to sample the 2016 Tara Syrah from the Huasco Valley in northern Chile, on the edge of the Atacama Desert, a wine Santos previously selected for Scott’s when he worked under the mentorship of then group head sommelier for Caprice Holdings, Arnaud Pasdeloup.

The meal culminated with the signature “Hidden Treasure”, concealing strawberries beyond an apple and fennel sorbet by head pastry chef, Amy Stoyel. Here, Santos paired the luscious Fukuju Yuzu Sake. Hyogo, Kinki, a high-end cocktail staple which more than held its own as a dessert pairing.

Last word

Santos proved a delightful, very attentive host, with pairings generally so thoughtful, we were left wondering: how much better could it get – for both him and Gouqi’s bottom line – if more diners sought his expert guidance? Gouqi may be a “work of art,” as the critics say, but what good is a masterpiece if the audience doesn’t know to ask the curator for the tour? Unless the venue is marketed to a more wine-savvy clientele, the fear is that this excellent sommelier will be tempted to pour his talents elsewhere.

Of course, even a work of art needs a touch-up now and then: a little TLC for the scuffed stairway, refreshed floristry at the bar, and a quick pre-opening check of the “facilities” wouldn’t go amiss. Plus, tweaking the music to avoid that nagging loop could sharpen the overall experience, ensuring that every element of Gouqi shines as brightly as both its lit-up dragon, and indeed, impressive cellar.